Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We have made a commitment to beef up the Competition Authority. Additional resources, including ten additional posts, have been approved. As the Deputy will be aware, tougher enforcement was required, which meant ensuring the authority was able to take on more cases. Additional resources have been provided.

The Competition Authority and National Consumer Agency have been merged. This is a positive development as the two bodies operate on two sides of the same marketplace, with one responsible for the consumer side and the other responsible for ensuring a level playing field in order that consumers are not cheated. The merger is good as it will make the Competition Authority less legalistic, because assuming responsibility for the consumer side will bring it closer to the marketplace and give it a more can-do approach than at present. At the same time, it will have legal teeth, which will be important given the criticism levelled at the National Consumer Agency that it did not have enough teeth. The two areas are complementary.

If one examines the output of the Competition Authority, one finds that it does a considerable amount of enforcement work.